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This story was submitted on behalf of Mrs J.Valentine by Steven Turner, a ��ѿ��ý Peoples War Story Gatherer with the ��ѿ��ý Radio Cambridgeshire Action Desk. The story was taken at IWM Duxford during their VE Anniversay airshow in May 2005. A story was also added on behalf of Mr Peter Valentine, under the title "Valentine's War".

"I worked in the Hawker Aircraft contracts office in London during the war. Hawker produced aircraft types such as the Hurricane and Typhoon; I remember the prototype Tornado as well. There was an air raid one night and it was nearly destroyed. I was on shift work that night and we had to go into a shelter at 2am. I got a lift home and my mother burst into tears, Father was still out doing A.R.P duty. We spent a lot of nights in the shelter. I couldn’t stand my father’s snoring! My brothers, Reginald and Edgar, were in the Royal Army Medical Corps and both came back from Dunkirk. They got separated; one came back on a hospital ship. Reginald managed to phone home and Edgar threw a card out from his troop train so that someone would give it to his girlfriend and she would know he was safe. Edgar went out to Gibraltar after that and Reginald went to be an officer on 3.7” anti-aircraft guns.
On V.E day we went to Buckingham Palace, it was a nice warm day and we saw the Royal Family."

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